


Doctor's Visit

by SailorChibi



Series: puppy play [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adorable Fluff, Animal Play, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Clint Barton is a Little Shit, Collars, Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Headspace, Leashes, Little Headspace, M/M, Master/Pet, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pet Names, Pet Play, Puppy Play, Sharing a Bed, Sick Natasha Romanov, Sleeping Together, Steve Rogers is a Good Friend, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, barking, cutsy pet play, daddy bucky barnes, little!natasha romanov, non sexual age play, owner steve rogers, peeing, peeing indoors, poor bucky is in way over his head, puppy headspace, puppy!clint barton, puppy!tony stark, tony stark is grumpy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21527086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Clint breaks his heading aids at the most inconvenient time possible. With Bucky stuck at home with a sick Natasha, how is Steve going to handle taking two puppies to the doctor?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: puppy play [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/545614
Comments: 21
Kudos: 309





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And here we are, back with another commission for the puppy verse.

It took Steve a moment to realize what had woken him up. He sat up partway and looked around the room, foggy brain struggling to make sense of things. Everything was dark and quiet, which made sense considering it wasn’t even dawn yet. He looked down automatically, expecting to see an empty bed beside him – sometimes he had trouble sleeping if Tony didn’t come to bed – but no, there Tony was. 

A small smile crossed Steve’s face as he took in the sight of his partner. Tony was laying on his belly, face hidden behind his arms. It was position he usually slept in when he was close to or in his puppy headspace, which made sense. The last week had been incredibly stressful for both Tony and Pepper, as both of them struggled with preparing for a meeting that could make or break the future of Stark Industries, as Tony had put it. 

Naturally, the meeting had gone without a hitch during the past two days. While Pepper had booked herself a spa day, now Steve was left waiting for Tony’s inevitable post-stress breakdown. It had taken him hours to coax Tony into relaxing enough to come to bed in the first place, and he could tell that Tony’s sleep had been fitful at best. He was fully expecting a tired, cranky puppy to deal with by morning.

But if Tony was still beside him, that begged the question of what had woken him up in the first place. Steve received an answer when his phone buzzed again. Concerned that the phone would wake Tony, who hadn’t slept well for the past week, Steve quickly grabbed the phone. He squinted at the screen and realized that it was Bucky… calling at 4:09am. Something had to be wrong. He answered it.

“Hello?” he whispered.

“Stevie? Why are you whispering?” Bucky said, much too loud for the early hour. Steve froze, holding his breath, as Tony stirred. 

“Shh, just a minute,” he hissed at Bucky, reaching out to Tony. Very gently, he ran his fingers through Tony’s hair. Tony calmed at the light petting, eyelashes fluttering as he shifted onto his side and buried his face in the pillow without waking up. Steve breathed a sight of relief and carefully slid out of bed.

“What’s going on?” Bucky asked. Steve said nothing until he’d reached the door and slipped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Only then did he respond.

“Nothing. Tony’s sleeping, that’s all. I didn’t want to take the risk of waking him up. What’s going on, Buck?”

“Ugh, it’s a nightmare over here,” Bucky said with a groan, and only then did Steve realize how exhausted his friend sounded. “Natasha caught the flu. She’s been throwing up all day. I finally managed to get some medication into her, but she only wants to sleep _on_ me. If I put her down, she wakes up and starts screaming and crying. You don’t even want to know how loud that kid can scream.”

Steve bit his lip to hold back a smile even as he winced. He knew perfectly well how loud Natasha could scream. When she was in her little headspace, Natasha had a set of lungs that could be heard three blocks away and a desire to make sure everyone knew it. He didn’t envy Bucky at the moment; Natasha would definitely be in her headspace if she was sick, and that meant Bucky effectively had a very grumpy four-year-old on his hands.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is she doing okay?” Steve said.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. I had Cho make a house call. It’s just the flu. I think she caught it at work.” Bucky sighed. “She started saying she didn’t feel well two days ago and then she woke up this morning… uh, yesterday, and it’s just been non-stop since then.”

“That’s too bad. Hopefully she feels better soon.” Steve shifted, wiggling his cold toes against the floor, and muffled a yawn. “So… what, did you need me to bring you some medicine?” He hoped the answer was no. He really wanted to crawl back into bed and cuddle his warm, sleepy boyfriend for a while. Tony would definitely wake up if Steve left the house.

“What? No. No, I’ve got lots of medicine here. It’s just – Clint broke one of his hearing aids at work. I don’t even know how he did it, honestly. He says it just miraculously fell apart, but we all know that’s bullshit… Anyway, the only time his doctor could squeeze him in was today at noon. The next appointment after that is like three weeks out,” Bucky explained. “He _has_ to go to this one. The problem is, you know what Clint gets like when he can’t hear anything. Nothing sends him into his puppy headspace faster.”

Steve was beginning to see where this was going. “He can’t just wear the one hearing aid for the appointment?”

Bucky sighed. “He says that it makes him dizzy, only being able to hear from one ear. I’m honestly afraid that he’ll get halfway to the appointment, take his hearing aid out because it’s irritating him, and then I’m going to get an uncomfortable call from the NYPD because my boyfriend is acting like a dog. Again.”

Poor Bucky. Steve coughed to hide a laugh and said, “You need me to watch Natasha while you take Clint?”

“Ideally yes, but I really don’t think she’s going to let me leave. Like, I’m not even kidding. She’s literally sleeping on top of me right now,” Bucky said. “I was hoping that maybe you could take Clint?”

Steve’s first inclination, knowing what Tony was going to be like when he woke up, was to say no. Tony could be just as clingy as Natasha when he was under the weather. It was very unlikely that Steve would get out of the house without a fight. But he couldn’t exactly say no to Bucky either. Bucky wouldn’t have called if he wasn’t feeling desperate, and Steve didn’t want to leave him in a bind.

With a growing sense of resignation, Steve sighed. “Yeah sure, I can do that. Tony might be with me, though.”

“That’s fine. Clint’s hearing doctor is Angie Martinelli,” Bucky said.

The name struck a chord in Steve’s brain, but he couldn’t place it. “Who?”

“You know. Peggy’s wife,” Bucky said.

Steve slapped his forehead. “Peggy’s wife! Right, of course.” He shook his head at himself. Peggy Carter had been Steve’s girlfriend through the majority of university, but they had parted on good terms after Peggy decided she wanted to go to grad school back in London. While there, she’d met and fallen love with an American woman, and they had ended up moving back to New York.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know,” Bucky said with amusement. “Angie’s a little. She and Natasha are friends. That’s how Clint got in to see her in the first place.”

“I guess I just didn’t put two and two together,” Steve said. He didn’t see Peggy very often – it had been at least a couple of years – but Steve knew that Peggy, at least, was well acquainted with the kinkier side of life. It didn’t surprise him at all to hear that she had a little. 

“So, if Clint’s in his headspace, that’s not a big deal. Dr. Martinelli won’t mind,” Bucky went on. “I don’t know about the rest of her staff, though.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Steve replied, already wondering how he was going to be able to coral two puppies. There really wasn’t an alternative, though. If Tony woke up in his headspace, there was a chance he might be able to force himself out of it – but Steve _hated_ doing that to him. It had taken a long time for him to convince Tony that it was okay for Tony to be in his headspace when he needed it, and that Steve was always there for him. Tony would, of course, understand, but it also ran the risk of undoing a lot of progress. 

Tony came first. That was the principle that Steve had started living his life by the day that Tony moved in. So, he would just have to make things work no matter how awkward or frustrating it was. If he was lucky, Tony would be in one of his moods where he was quiet, tired and clingy. That would really only mean Steve would have to deal with Clint, and hopefully Clint wouldn’t be feeling too wild.

“Thank you,” Bucky breathed, sounding so relieved that Steve was glad he’d said yes. “It won’t be a long appointment. She’s basically just gonna do a hearing test to make sure that his prescription hasn’t been changed. His insurance won’t pay for new hearing aids otherwise.”

“It’s fine, Buck. I’ll be there around 11am to pick him up. If you need me to bring anything for Natasha, just text me,” Steve said, pushing himself up off the wall.

“Will do. I –” Whatever else Bucky was going to say was cut off by the sound of something breaking. There was a sharp inhale over the line, and then Natasha started crying. Steve grimaced and pulled the phone away from his ear; it sounded like she was bawling right into the speaker.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Clint broke a vase. I gotta go.”

All sound cut off abruptly, leaving Steve standing there shaking his head. He knew that being with Natasha and Clint, and having both a puppy and a little in his life, left Bucky feeling very happy and fulfilled. And for the most part, juggling the two of them wasn’t a big deal. But it was times like this when Bucky got overwhelmed, because both of them needed him but he was only one person and it was very hard to divide attention like that.

It made Steve very happy that he only had Tony to deal with. He locked his phone and pushed the door open, peeking inside the bedroom. All hopes that Tony would still be sound asleep were dashed when Steve caught sight of two beautiful brown eyes staring at him, just barely visible in the moonlight seeping in around the curtains. His heart melted and he stepped back inside.

“What’s going on?” Tony mumbled. Only he was still half asleep, so it came out sounding more like ‘wassgoon’. Adorable. Steve couldn’t help a tender smile.

“That was Bucky. He needs me to take Clint to an appointment later,” he said.

Tony yawned. “Somethin’ wrong?”

“Nothing urgent. I honestly don’t think Bucky even realized what time it is,” Steve admitted, crossing back over to the bed. He sat down and pulled his legs up onto the mattress, glad to slide his frozen toes underneath the blanket. Much as he hated to admit it, winter was coming.

“Mmm… Steve, I’m tired,” Tony said, rolling to face him.

Steve studied the dark, puffy circles under Tony’s eyes, the pallor of his cheeks, and the unfocused look in his eyes, and tried not to sigh. “I bet you are, honey,” he said, holding his arms out. At this rate, he’d be lucky if Tony didn’t get sick too. They were really going to have to talk about Tony driving himself into the ground like this. It wasn’t healthy, and it was taking Tony longer and longer to recuperate each time.

“Sleep more?” Tony asked, slurring his words as he scooted across the bed into Steve’s arms. He laid his head on Steve’s chest with a soft whine, a sound he usually only made in his headspace.

“Sleep as much as you want, my sweet pup,” Steve whispered, putting his hand back on Tony’s head. A little more of that gentle petting that Tony loved so much, and Tony’s eyes were drifting shut. Steve watched him fall back asleep but couldn’t sleep himself. His brain was already trying to figure out how to get through today with a minimal number of casualties… or at least, to get everyone home in one piece.


	2. Chapter 2

Shortly before 11am, Steve pulled his coat on and zipped it up before walking over to the couch. Tony was curled up into a little ball, staring at the screen with half-lidded eyes. There was a very good chance he wasn’t fully paying attention to whatever he was watching, which made it easier for Steve to pick up the remote and turn the television off. That action earned him a whine of protest and a set of sad puppy eyes.

“Sorry, but you know Clint’s appointment is at noon. We have to go,” Steve said, picking up Tony’s jacket and holding it out. Under any other circumstances, he would’ve suggested that Tony just stay home and chill out while Steve was gone.

But his suspicions had proven true. Tony was perilously close to his headspace, not fully there yet but right on the edge. He was being abnormally quiet and clingy: no matter what room in the house Steve walked into, Tony somehow found a reason to be in the same room. The whine, rather than a verbal protest, told Steve that it wouldn’t take much to push Tony over the line. He really didn’t want Tony to be alone when that happened.

Not because Tony couldn’t handle himself – Tony had, before they met, gone into his headspace while alone when Pepper was otherwise occupied – but because it just didn’t sit well to leave Tony alone when he needed Steve. Had it not been for Clint’s appointment, Steve would’ve happily laid down on the couch and spent the day with a snoozing puppy on his chest. 

Alas, that wasn’t an option and Tony’s pout said that he knew it. He reluctantly sat up and extended an arm towards Steve. Taking the unspoken hint, Steve held out the coat and slid up first one arm and then the other, then leaned down and zipped the coat up, exactly the way he’d done for Natasha in the past. Sometimes taking care of a puppy and a Little weren’t so different after all.

He hustled Tony out the door and into the car, unsurprised when Tony leaned his head against the window and dozed as they drove over to Bucky’s. Steve dared to let himself hope that today might not go as poorly as he feared – and then they got to Bucky’s, and even from the driveway with the car doors closed he could hear the sound of Natasha crying and Clint howling.

“What,” Tony said blankly, blinking at the house.

“Yeah,” Steve sighed, unbuckling his seat belt. Tony got out too, shyly tucking himself underneath Steve’s arm as they walked up to the door. Rather than knock, Steve just opened up the door and got a firsthand look at the chaos going on.

Bucky was standing in the middle of the hallway, Clint’s jacket in hand, an overwhelmed look on his face. Natasha was sitting on his feet, arms wound around Bucky’s knees, face pressed into Bucky’s thighs while she screamed and cried. Clint was howling, seemingly enjoying how loud he could get when he wasn’t wearing his hearing aids, bounding around the living room and jumping up on the furniture.

“Oh my god,” Steve said, doing his best not to laugh.

“Steve!” Bucky’s head whipped around with a relieved expression. “You’re here!”

“I’m here,” Steve confirmed. “What, uh, what’s going on, Bucky?” He tightened his grip on Tony, who was watching Clint and Natasha with huge eyes.

“As soon as I got Clint’s jacket out, Natasha started _freaking out_ ,” Bucky said, raising his voice to be heard over Natasha. “She thinks I’m leaving to go with Clint and nothing I say makes a difference. She won’t even let go.” To prove it, he tried to shuffle backwards. Natasha immediately shrieked and clutched him tighter, enough so that Bucky almost fell over.

Steve couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Looks like you have your hands full.”

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, punk.” Bucky huffed. “Then Clint saw I had his jacket and started running around because he doesn’t want to go to the doctor. It’s been like a three-ring circus here all morning.” There was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

Tony must have recognized it too, because he slid to his knees and softly barked. Slowly, he crawled over to Natasha and gently butted his head against her shoulder. Natasha’s screams trailed to a stop as she turned her head to look at Tony, revealing glassy, fever-bright green eyes, flushed cheeks, and hair matted to her forehead with sweat. Tony kept nuzzling at her, until finally Natasha let go of Bucky with one hand to slowly reach out and stroke Tony’s hair.

“Puppy,” she said, and Steve winced at the cracked, hoarse sound of her voice.

Clint was still running around howling, but he must have caught sight of Tony and Natasha because his howling abruptly stopped. He raced up beside Clint and dropped down onto his butt, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted. Natasha giggled and let go of Bucky entirely, putting her other hand on Clint’s shoulder and give him a couple of playful pats.

“I love Tony more than anything else in the world,” Bucky breathed. 

“I wouldn’t say that too loud,” Steve muttered back, though he could appreciate where Bucky was coming from. Tony had brought a temporary halt to the insanity, but he knew it wouldn’t last long.

Very slowly, Steve crouched down until he was on eye level with Natasha. She blinked slowly at him like she was only just realizing that he was even there. Steve gave her a small smile, his heart aching at how sickly she looked. Natasha didn’t get sick very often, but when she did it usually hit her _hard_. Aside from her flushed cheeks, her face was paper white.

“Hey Tasha,” Steve said, keeping his voice low just in case she had a headache. “Would you mind if Tony and I borrowed Clint for a little while?”

“Clint?” Natasha rasped thickly. “Not Daddy?”

“Nope. Your daddy is gonna stay right here where he belongs,” Steve told her. “Doesn’t that sound nice? You won’t have to worry about Clint being a naughty puppy when you’re not feeling very good. Daddy can sit down on the couch and you can lay your head in his lap and watch Frozen.” He glanced up at Bucky, who grimaced at the movie but quickly pasted on a smile when Natasha looked up too.

Natasha frowned. “Tony stay?”

Tony whined at that, ducking out from beneath Natasha’s hand to dart back to Steve’s side. He tucked himself underneath Steve’s arm, which was good as a statement that he didn’t want to stay. Natasha stuck her bottom lip out, new tears welling up in her eyes.

“Tony has to come with me, but when we get back I’m sure he and Clint will cuddle with you for a little while,” Steve said quickly, hoping to stave off a new tantrum. Honestly, it would’ve been easier if Tony had wanted to stay. But he wasn’t surprised that Tony didn’t want to.

Her frown deepened, but she nodded slowly. “Daddy stay,” she said, a little more firmly, tilting her head back to look up at Bucky. 

“Absolutely,” Bucky said quickly, bending down to pull Natasha to her feet. She leaned into Bucky, wrapping her arms around his neck so that it was just easier for Bucky to pick up. So he did, one arm under her knees and the other wrapped securely around her back for support. He shot Steve a look of deep gratitude. Steve winked back and turned his attention to Clint. He spoke slowly and deliberately, so that Clint could read his lips.

“Hey Clint, I bet it’s been really boring here with Natasha sick, right? How would you like to go for a drive in the car?” Steve asked, forcing himself to sound as excited as possible. “We can even get ice cream later!”

Clint immediately perked up at that, letting out a happy bark: it was hard to know how much he’d understood, but he had definitely registered the words ‘ice cream’. Steve patted Tony’s head one last time and stood up, grabbing Clint’s coat. It took a little more effort to wrestle Clint into his coat than it had to get Tony into his, but at last Clint was properly dressed for the cooling weather outdoors. Steve grabbed Clint’s arm in lieu of a leash – there was a reason they didn’t usually take the puppies outside the house – and opened up the door.

“Thanks Steve,” Bucky said. “Ice cream is on me, okay?”

“You know it,” Steve said, stepping out onto the porch. Surprisingly, Clint didn’t try to run away but allowed Steve to lead him over to the car, with Tony quietly padding along in their wake. Steve supposed that what he’d said was true, and Clint really was bored out of his mind. He wondered if that boredom had contributed to the breaking of Clint’s hearing aid in the first place.

He got Clint into the back of the car, unsurprised when Tony hopped in next to him, and shut the door with a sigh and a silent prayer that went unanswered. No sooner had Steve gotten into the front seat than Clint started howling again at the top of his lungs. Tony shied away with a whine, then lurched forward and scrambled into the front seat to get away from the noise. In doing so, Tony accidentally kicked Steve in the side of the head, then yelped when he jammed his fingers against the seat.

“Ow! Tony, what are you – shit,” Steve groaned, rubbing the side of the head. His anger melted away when Tony looked up at him with apologetic eyes. 

Sighing, Steve pushed Tony fully into the seat and then leaned over, grabbing the seat belt and pulling it over Tony’s midsection. A quick glance in the past showed that Clint was kneeling on the seat with his face smushed up against the window, tongue lolling against the glass. Steve winced inwardly – it was always a bitch trying to clean saliva off the glass – but gave up, because at least Clint was quiet.

He started the car and backed out of the driveway, but they hadn’t gone far before Clint whined. Steve glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the pup scrabbling at the window. He reluctantly put it down just a little bit, giving Clint some fresh air but not enough so that Clint could jump out of the car. He’d done that once before to Bucky and nearly given Bucky a heart attack.

“It’s all gonna be okay,” Steve muttered, unsure if he was talking to himself or Tony. “We’re gonna do this, get Clint looked at, then stop for ice cream and go back home. It’s gonna be okay.”

He kept repeating that as they neared the doctor’s office, though it was shortly blocked out by Clint’s renewed howls. People kept turning around to look at the car. Steve flushed and pretended he didn’t notice the curious looks as he swung into the parking lot. He parked and shut the car off, then took a moment to take a deep, fortifying breath before looking over at Tony.

“I’m going to get Clint out first. Then I’ll let you out,” he told Tony.

Naturally, Tony began crying and whimpering as soon as Steve got out. Steve did his best to steel himself against it, opening the back door and grabbing Clint around the waist before Clint could make a run for it. He had to half-carry, half-drag Clint around to the other side so that he could open the door for Tony. He unhooked the seat belt and took hold of Tony’s arm to help him out.

“Come on, guys,” he grunted, hip checking the front door shut. He started walking towards the building. Tony’s crying increased when he saw where they were heading, and Clint started whining loudly. _Everyone_ was looking at them. Steve knew his face had to be bright red as he dragged the two of them into the elevator. Clint outright howled the instant the doors were shut and Tony sank to the floor, whimpering louder than ever. Steve wanted to put his face in his hands.

Bucky owed him _so_ much more than an ice cream!


	3. Chapter 3

The instant the elevator doors opened, Clint lunged out. Steve swore under his breath and darted after him, forgetting about Tony in the process. Tony raced out too but went in the opposite direction. That left Steve standing in the middle of the hallway, head swiveling from side to side as he watched one pup run to the left and one pup run to the right. He had nightmares that weren’t as scary as this!

He made a split-second decision and rushed after Tony, because Tony was tired, and sluggishness had him moving far slower than Clint. He caught up easily and grabbed Tony around the waist, tossing the pup over his shoulder. Tony squealed in protest, hands slapping at Steve’s back. Steve ignored the flimsy blows – Tony could put some real force behind a punch he wanted to, so this was less than half-hearted – and turned sharply, heading back towards Clint.

The good part about the upper floors of the clinic was that they were all doctor’s offices of a sort, so Clint didn’t want to go into any of them. He was heading for the end of the hall, where the emergency steps were, when Steve reached him. Clint snarled as Steve’s arm wrapped around his waist, dragging Clint close. He lifted Clint off his feet and draped Clint over his free shoulder. 

“Never again,” Steve muttered, wrapping his arm around both sets of thighs to keep them in place. He scanned the hallway for Dr. Martinelli’s office and was pleased to find it was only a few doors down. It was only a matter of time before someone poked their heads out to see what the commotion was, since naturally Clint was howling away at the top of his lungs. Tony, at least, was sulky and quiet.

Steve let go of Tony for a split second to hip check the door to Dr. Martinelli’s clinic open. Mercifully, there were no other patients waiting – but the receptionist looked up with very wide eyes. Steve froze, staring at her with an equally shocked face. Bucky had confirmed that Dr. Martinelli had no problems with people in their headspaces, but Steve hadn’t thought to ask about anyone else.

“Oh, this must be Mr. Barton,” the receptionist said, recovering quickly. “Dr. Martinelli is waiting for him. I’ll let her know that he’s here.”

“Uh, thanks,” Steve said awkwardly, stepping inside and kicking the door shut. Clint’s struggles were becoming increasingly rough to handle, and he finally had to set Clint down or risking losing an ear to a flailing hand. He set Tony down too but stayed in front of the door just in case. 

Naturally, both pups rushed into separate corners and stayed there growling. Steve let them, glancing around the room curiously. It was small but nicely decorated, with soft colors and several toys for children. He snapped to when the door opened, and a smiling woman walked out. She had dark hair pinned up in ringlets and was wearing a white doctor’s coat over black slacks and a blue blouse.

“Good morning. You must be Mr. Rogers,” she said.

“Hi,” Steve said. “Yeah, that’s me. That’s Tony, and that’s –”

“I’m familiar with Clint,” Dr. Martinelli said with another smile. She walked right over to Clint, crouched down, and started signing to him. Steve stared at her in surprise. He didn’t know why, but he hadn’t expected that she would be fluent in sign language.

And it was working! Clint’s head tipped to the side and he stared at her moving hands with fixed concentration, the most docile that Steve had seen him all day. Whatever Dr. Martinelli was signing to him seemed to be working, because she reached out and ran her hand through Clint’s hair. Then she stood up and patted her leg. Steve watched, mouth hanging open, as Clint calmly followed her into the back room. The door swung shut behind them, leaving only the sound of Tony’s growling.

“How the hell did she _do_ that?” Steve whispered, baffled. Bucky and Natasha were both well versed in sign language, but Steve only knew a few signs. Clint, when he wasn’t in his headspace, was really good at reading lips. Clearly, Steve was going to have to start practicing if that was the effect it could have.

He shook his head and glanced over at Tony, wincing when he saw the deep glare plastered all over Tony’s face. He was definitely going to be paying for this for a while. Tony might have agreed to this early this morning, but right now he looked less than impressed. His shoulders were hunched up around his head and he was making every effort to make himself look as small as possible. He didn’t like the doctor at all.

“Baby, you aren’t going in. This is a check-up just for Clint,” Steve said gently. 

Tony growled louder.

“Okay, okay. I was just saying,” Steve said, holding his hands up. Deciding to cut his losses, he took a seat near the door that Clint and Dr. Martinelli had gone through. If Clint started acting up, he wanted to be close enough to hear so that he could intervene.

Maybe he should go back there with them? The thought struck him unexpectedly and Steve froze, glancing uncertainly at the door. He _was_ supposed to be accompanying Clint on this visit. But Dr. Martinelli seemed to have him so well in hand, and Clint was _really_ not happy with Steve right now. It was likely that his presence would only aggravate Clint and make things worse, not better. Plus, Bucky had indicated that Clint knew Dr. Martinelli very well.

After a few moments of hesitation, he decided to stay where he was. Dr. Martinelli had seemed comfortable and so had Clint; they knew where he was if either one of them needed him and going back with Clint would mean leaving Tony alone or dragging Tony back there with them. Steve wasn’t overly inclined to do either one of those things if he could avoid it.

Instead, he poked around until he found a magazine that seemed semi-interesting and opened it. He was reading an article about modern art when something nudged his knee. Steve lowered his magazine slightly and saw that it was Tony, who evidently had crept out of the corner after being ignored for a few minutes. Tony was kneeling beside him, silently regarding Steve with unhappy brown eyes. When he saw that he had Steve’s attention, he gave a very soft whimper.

Steve’s heart melted. “Oh, honey, it’s okay,” he said, setting the magazine aside. He carefully reached down and helped Tony up, pulling the pup into his lap for a cuddle. Tony burrowed into his embrace, burying his face in Steve’s shoulder with a low whine.

“Shh. I know, you’re sleepy and cranky,” Steve murmured, running a hand through Tony’s hair. “When we’re done here, we’ll get some ice cream and then go home. We’ll lay in bed and you can nap while I watch television, okay?” He sighed as he spoke, envisioning the scene perfectly and longing to make it a reality. The early morning wake-up, not to mention all this effort, had tired Steve out too.

He continued to lazily trail his fingers through Tony’s hair while picking up the magazine with the other. Tony usually didn’t find art very interesting, but Steve started reading out loud anyway. He figured Tony would like to hear the sound of his voice. He kept his voice low to avoid disturbing the receptionist. They made it all the way through that article and were almost through another before the door opened.

“Here you are,” Dr. Martinelli said, leading Clint through. 

“How did it go?” Steve asked apprehensively, struggling to stand with Tony’s dead weight. He finally made it, though Tony grumbled at having to put his feet down and stand.

Dr. Martinelli beamed. “Wonderful, as always. Clint is always a perfect angel.”

 _Perfect angel_? Steve looked at Clint doubtfully. He didn’t think it was his imagination that Clint smirked.

“Clint’s going to need two new hearing devices. I’ve written up a prescription for him. He can visit his usual place to get them fitted,” Dr. Martinelli said cheerfully. “In the meantime, I recommend that he not wear his old device.”

“Okay,” Steve said, nodding. He figured that as soon as Natasha was feeling better, Bucky would be escorting Clint to the store.

She turned back to Clint and signed something to him. Clint bobbed his head in acknowledgement, though he didn’t sign anything back. Dr. Martinelli said goodbye to Steve and walked back into the private room. As the door shut behind her, the smile slid off of Clint’s face and he narrowed his eyes at Steve. It was wholly unsurprising when that was followed up by a growl.

“Haven’t you ever been told not to shoot the messenger?” Steve said.

Clint’s growl deepened.

“Didn’t think so. Come on. We’re done anyway. Time for ice cream,” Steve said, attempting to interject an excitement he wasn’t feeling into his voice. Surveying the two grumpy pups, he actually couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less – but it wouldn’t be good to break a promise. They would definitely remember that next time if he did, and it had been hard enough trying to get them to cooperate with the promise of ice cream hanging over their heads.

This time, he grabbed Clint’s wrist and quickly opened the door before wrapping his free arm around Tony’s waist. Tony didn’t seem inclined to run this time: the idea of going to the doctor had definitely spooked him. But Clint wasn’t impressed by Steve’s quick thinking. He snarled and jerked hard against Steve, trying to escape. Steve was actually dragged forward a bit before he caught himself with a foot against the doorframe.

“Clint, come on!” he said in exasperation, fully aware that Clint couldn’t hear him and was deliberately choosing to not look at Steve’s face. He could’ve grabbed Clint’s chin so that they had to look at each other, but it was entirely likely that Clint would shut his eyes.

Instead, he sighed and edged out into the hallway. Clint practically dragged them down the corridor, but, since that was where Steve wanted to go, it wasn’t too much of an issue. They got into the elevator and Steve wearily hit the button for the ground floor. The instant the door opened, Clint raced out, through the building, and sprinted over to the car. He was pawing at the windows and crying before Steve and Tony had even exited the building.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Steve muttered, unlocking the door. Clint practically jumped into the backseat. Steve slammed the door behind him, got Tony settled in the front seat, and gladly left the doctor’s behind.

As promised, he stopped for ice cream. Rather than let the two pups eat it in the car – he knew damn well what kind of mess that would cause! – he held the containers on his lap the whole back to the house and ignored Tony’s pleading eyes as best he could. Clint cared less about the ice cream; as soon as Steve had parked in the driveway and opened the door, Clint was out of the car and into the backyard.

Steve just let him go. Bucky’s backyard had a fence, so he swung the gate shut behind Clint as he walked by. It was better for Clint to burn off some energy. He took Tony with him to the door and opened it up without waiting for Bucky to answer. The house was eerily quiet, and Steve frowned worriedly as he stuck his head into the living room. Then he found himself smiling.

Bucky was passed out on the couch, head tipped back, snoring loudly. Natasha was curled up on the couch, breathing noisily due to her congestion. Tony ducked out from under Steve’s arm and quickly crept over to the couch. He somehow clambered up beside Natasha without waking her, or so Steve thought: no sooner had Tony settled down than Natasha’s arms came up and wrapped around him, pulling Tony down against her chest. Tony hugged her back and let Natasha bury her face in his hair.

Adorable. Steve shook his head and took the ice cream into the kitchen to stick it in the freezer before it melted. He glanced out the window to check on Clint, who was now stark naked and racing around the backyard at full speed, before he sank into a chair at the table. In a few minutes, he’d wake Bucky up and let Bucky deal with trying to coax Clint in. Right now, he just needed a moment of peace and quiet.

He took his phone out and aimlessly checked a few things, muffling a yawn. In short order, he had his head resting on his hand. He had no idea that in a few minutes, it would actually be Bucky waking _him_ up while Natasha and Tony crept into his lap for hugs. For the moment, Steve let his eyes drift shut and sank into a quick nap that was well-deserved.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


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